Spring walk at Godolphin

Hello all....hope you have enjoyed your Spring bank holiday Monday! I went to Godolphin to see the bluebells....last week there was no sign of them, now here they are!

Other spring flowers are appearing too.....red campions and yellow buttercups; oh May is such a glorious month for the hedgerows, they really make my heart sing!

the sky was dappled

frothy dandelions everywhere

and the whole of Godolphin Hill was dotted with the delicate drifts and clumps of wood anemones. They are late flowering this year; out at the same time as the bluebells.....

they grow amongst the heath and bracken and brambles,

some have green leaves and pure white petals; others have deep coppery burgundy leaves and petals with a pink flush on their backs

the wind-sculpted shape of this hawthorn caught my eye

an old brick mine chimney is neatly framed by the twisted branches

interesting gaps between the granite stones in the wall

I walked past this beech tree 3 days ago and the buds were still tightly curled; now the downy leaves in their vivid green are emerging.

Seeing anemones in flower always reminds me of a page in my great-grandfather's sketch book, his fine pencil and watercolour paintings so perfectly capture their delicate beauty

beneath the drawing below you can just make out the date: 7th April 1896, which goes to prove that the anemones are about a month late this spring

I shall leave you with one more picture of the beautiful bluebells   x x x

Treasure!

There's nothing I like more than pottering along a beach looking for treasure.... shells, driftwood, seaweeds....... Today I went to a very well known Cornish seaside village and hunted for bits of broken pottery.

I was not disappointed! Once I got my eye trained in to spot the glimpses of blue and white, green and brown lying amongst the pebbles and seaweed and sand, I found far more pieces than I expected.

It is such a thrill when you bend down to pick up and then turn over that ordinary looking sherd of plain white pottery to reveal a beautiful fragment of Victorian blue and white design on the other side..... You begin to imagine what plate or bowl the piece originally formed part of; it might have been the pride and joy of some kitchen dresser until the day an accidental breakage caused it to be discarded in the rubbish, only to be washed down the local stream and emerge years later in the natural detritus of the harbour below.

I shall be using these pieces I've found in a range of collages and cards. These once discarded fragments will then be given a new lease of life, and be admired as objects of beauty and design once again.

Easter Homespun!

Just a quickie post today, to remind all you lovely bloggers that if you find yourselves in Cornwall over the Easter weekend, why not pop over to Portscatho on Easter Monday for the first 'Homespun' Fair of the year. Portscatho is situated south of Truro, on the eastern side of the Roseland peninsula. 

There will be lots of lovely vintageness and handmade goodies on offer, plus homemade cakes and a pretty seaside village location. I will be having a stall; these are a few of the things I'll be selling at the Fair.....old chocolate boxes filled with vintage sewing bits, and charm safety pin brooches.....

I was a little anxious that these pure wool cushions I've just finished making would be a bit too 'wintry' for a Spring Fair, but winter doesn't seem to have quite left us yet, does it!?!

Keep warm, and hope to meet up with some of you on Monday! x

Summer in February

'

I have just finished reading a book that my brother gave me for my birthday. Entitled 'Summer in February' it tells the true tale of a love triangle that developed amongst a group of painters who lived and worked in the tiny valley and cove of Lamorna, on the south Cornish coast during the period leading up to the First World War.

 Lamorna had become so closely associated with the artist Samuel John Birch that he was known simply as 'Lamorna' Birch, and his 'en plein air' style of painting attracted more artists to the valley, namely Harold Knight and his wife Laura who moved to Lamorna in 1907 and remained until 1919. The great painter Stanhope Forbes had set up a painting school in nearby Newlyn, and a young brother and sister called Florence and Joey Carter-Wood enrolled there. The arrival of the young upstart painter Alfred Munnings in 1910 seems to have sent shockwaves around this sleepy backwater.  Munnings was a wild unpredictable extrovert who quickly caught the attention of Laura Knight, as he was the very opposite of her quiet sensitive husband Harold, who only ever painted indoors. Munnings and Laura always painted outside in all weathers, making the most of the brilliant Cornish light reflected off the sea. Florence Carter-Wood was a great beauty and frequently modelled for both Alfred Munnings and Harold Knight.

Painting of Florence Carter-Wood, by Harold Knight

Harold Knight was probably in love with Florence though was far too shy (and too cautious of his wife) to act upon his feelings, but Alfred Munnings pursued her with great intensity. 

(Sorry for the blurry image, can't find a better one.) 

Munning's portrait of Florence sitting on his horse.

Among this artistic colony moved another young man, Gilbert Evans, who after fighting in the Boer war had come to Lamorna to work as a land manager on the Boskenna Estate. It is evident from the diaries he kept that he too fell in love with Florence, but his gentlemanly ways prevented him from revealing his true feelings towards her. Just when he thought their friendship might develop into something more, Florence announces that she has consented to be Alfred's wife, a disastrous decision that was to have dire consequences. On their wedding night in 1912 she takes a dose of cyanide, but survives. Her marriage to Alfred is hopeless right from the start, and she turns to Gilbert in her distress and they begin an affair. 

I shall not reveal more as this story is coming out as a film in June, and I for one can't wait! Dan Stevens (from Downton Abbey) plays the role of Gilbert Evans, and Emily Browning plays Florence Carter-Wood.

By Dame Laura Knight

Laura Knight became one of Britain's foremost impressionist painters, and became a Dame in 1929, the first woman to receive such an honour. She was also the first woman to be elected a full member of The Royal Academy in 1930. She is most well known for her studies of life in the theatre, ballet and circus.

In 2009 an employee of Christies auction house in London noticed an anomaly in the back of one of her paintings, 'Carnavalet'. There appeared to be not one but two sets of edges of canvas showing. Upon removing the 81 nails that held the back down he was astonished to reveal a second canvas, which had remained hidden from sight for almost 100 years, the colours perfectly preserved. 

The hidden painting is a portrait of a young Alfred Munnings, painted by Harold Knight just after his arrival in Lamorna in 1910.

'Sir Alfred James Munnings reading', by Harold Knight

 This poses the intriguing question of why it was hidden behind 'Carnavalet'; did Harold dispose of it because of his irritation over Laura's close friendship with Munnings? And did Laura rescue the portrait and subsequently hide it so as not to anger her husband? The real reason we shall never know, but it adds a further note of intrigue to the story of the Lamorna colony of painters. 

As I don't live that far from Lamorna I plan to go there soon and share some photos with you. It is some years since I have been to that secluded valley. My brother heard about the book and the film from a lady in the back of his ambulance that he was taking to hospital (he's a paramedic). Turns out she used to own the Lamorna Cove Hotel, which is haunted by the ghost of Munning's wife, Florence, but you shall have to either read the book or wait for the film to find out more!

'Summer in February'  by Jonathon Smith 1995

Pinterest!

Oh My! I've just discovered Pinterest, and I confess I'm now addicted......It all started when I found Lynn B from Sea Angels' pin boards, so delicious! I don't know about you, but I constantly crave visual imagery to inspire me, which is why I love browsing through magazines, visiting art and craft galleries and reading other creative blogs. Pinterest is like one never-ending visual store-cupboard from which you can 'harvest' your favourite images and keep them as reference material. I'm in heaven!

To that end, I have created 14 pin boards of my own:

1. Handmade Inspiration

2. Colour mood board

3. Haberdashery

 4. Antique textile heaven

5. Retro style

 6. Paintings, drawings and illustrations

7. Hearts

8. Stitched Treasures

 9. Paper ephemera, books and journals

10. Old and Worn

 11. Beautiful Imagery

 12. Jewellery

13. Clothing and Accessories

 14. Shells

 I've added a 'Pinterest' link to my sidebar if you fancy a gander, and I would love to know if you have pin boards of your own, or can recommend your favourites - leave me a message! 

 Happy pinning! x

The Great Atlantic

Yesterday J and I took a little trip out to Cape Cornwall, a rugged and dramatic headland which lies at the very tip of Britain, and unlike Land's End itself, remains totally unspoilt. The weather was idyllic for this time of year, if a tad breezy.

Priest's Cove lies at the foot of the headland, and a few hardy fishermen still work the boats here, from a rather precipitous concrete slipway and a very rocky approach from the sea, which is always pretty wild on this great Atlantic coast.

Set into the cliff face are a number of ramshackle fishermen's huts; the rough grass and the creeping mesembryanthemum having grown over the corrugated tin roofs so that they resemble the little homes of seafaring hobbits.

The cove has an unusual geology, which I am afraid I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you about, but it is very noticeable how many perfectly rounded pale granite boulders there are littered all over the underlying rock. 

Up on top of the headland the views were spectacular, the waves crashing and frothing below. 

I feel so completely invigorated when I watch the sea

The sun was going in and out from behind scudding clouds, and it got a bit cold up on the Cape, so we headed back to St. Just to The Cook Book Cafe for a milkshake and a toasted tea cake. Their chocolate milkshakes are to die for! (I usually have two). Then a short drive to a secret hidden valley....Cot Valley.....

This little babbling stream winds its way down through enchanting groves of trees and subtropical plants until it emerges out onto the wild scrubby heathland and eventually the sea....

Like Priest's Cove, the 'beach' is almost entirely composed of rounded granite boulders.

A little way along the cliff edge is this tunnel, now blocked, which I suspect was the entrance to a mine shaft. The whole area is littered with disused engine houses and chimneys; many of the tunnels went out for miles under the sea bed.

As the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky I just stood mesmerised by the beauty of the light on the water and the continual surging back and forth of the waves....

Happy Valentine's Day to you my friends; hope you spent it with someone you love. x